Benchmarks are used in the trading of instruments such as FX spot to provide a reference point which indicates the actual state of the market and which is neither biased to the buy side or sell side of the market. As markets can move very rapidly it is important to recalculate the benchmarks frequently and to distribute them to participating traders and other interested parties so that the benchmarks remain a reliable indicator.
Benchmarks may be derived in a number of ways. However, all are based on the market history, and access to good information as to the current state of the market, and trades conducted in the market is essential. Typically, a financial institution will trade a variety of currency pairs and benchmarks need to be established in each of those pairs.